His Third Favorite TV Show
by sleepysleepythoughts
Summary: Annie and Abed watch Cougar Town on Halloween... kind of. Spoilers for 4x02!


AN: Hey everybody! Hope you like the story. Also I do not own Community.

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They're sitting in the living room, the lights are off, and they're watching the Hallowine episode of _Cougar Town_.

What with all the Halloween hijinks, Annie missed the rerun on TV, but Abed, of course, has every season on DVD.

They had left Pierce's house together with Shirley to go to Vicki's party, as Britta and Troy had headed home early and Jeff had his "unfinished business". Shirley had quickly found Andre and they disappeared for most of the party, so Abed and Annie had spent almost the entire time alone together. Annie considered giving him the cold shoulder for abandoning her in the halls of Pierce's creepy haunted mansion, but it was incredibly difficult to hold a grudge against Abed and she immediately gave up. Besides, he apologized- kind of.

"Sorry for leaving you alone out there, Annie. I wouldn't have wanted you to be the innocent naive girl who gets murdered in every horror movie. Of course, since we were in more of a Scooby Doo scenario, your death would have been very unlikely", he'd told her as they sat on Vicki's sticky velvet couch. She'd smiled, thanked him, and taken a sip of her beer, before dragging him out of his seat so he could accompany her to get more ghost-shaped sugar cookies.

They talked about everything- _Inspector Spacetime_, Britta and Troy, _Cougar Town_, Jeff, History class, where the heck Chang was. They danced together to all the good songs, and Annie shrieked with excitement when _Roxanne _came on. They laughed a lot- especially when Garrett fell into the apple-bobbing bucket butt-first and couldn't get back out.

Annie felt bad, but it was _really _funny.

They were just so happy to hang out- they hardly got any time alone together since Troy came back from air conditioning school and Britta moved in, and it felt so right to just talk, and not worry about _the study group, _and being too young or weird for anyone else.

"I missed this. I missed _you", _she remembers telling him in the car on the way home, and he'd just smiled, keeping his eyes on the road. Troy and Britta were in Britta's room together with the door closed when they got home, and after Britta's serious talk with Abed back in late July he knew to never _ever _bother them when the door was closed.

So here they were, watching Cougar Town. Well, Annie's watching Cougar Town. Abed's watching Annie.

As in, he turned his entire armchair to face her instead of the TV, and he's studying her face with a deep concentration usually reserved for Troy when he's trying to do math.

Annie's used to it, kind of. She knows it's a little weird, but they've been doing this for going on 2 weeks, and besides- she'd be lying if she said she didn't find it really flattering. _She's Abed's third favorite show. _He has a _lot _of favorite shows. This is a _big deal. _

But something weird is happening. Somewhere around the 5-minute mark of the episode, she's finding it really, really difficult to concentrate on the show.

All she can think about his that Abed is staring at her.

And as soon as she notices it, she can't un-notice it.

She's trying so hard to just watch the episode- Abed wants to see all her natural reactions, and he'll be disappointed if she isn't even paying attention. But she just can't help it.

All of a sudden she doesn't know what to do with her face. What if her face doesn't look good from the angle he's sitting at? What if her expression is weird? Should she smile? No, that's super weird.

Her face is heating up and her heart is beating in her chest so loud she's sure he can hear it. He's _Abed. _He'll _know._

But know what exactly?

Annie can't think straight. This isn't the first time this has happened, of course. Abed makes her self-conscious sometimes. She's always noticed Abed was a pretty adorable guy. That Han Solo kiss was not one she forgot in a hurry, and she still got warm and fuzzy when she heard the word "cigarettes", as long as it was in the sexy Don Draper drawl. He was a great friend. He was sweet, funny, and honest. His honesty was especially refreshing- sometimes she got incredibly tired of Jeff's riddles and sick, petty games. Abed was always straight with her no matter what. She loved that about him.

She loved him.

But not in _that _way.

...Right?

"Annie?"

His voice snaps her out of her reverie, and she jumps, turning beetroot red. He's paused the DVD.

"Yep? Abed?"

"Are you OK? You don't seem to be paying attention-"

"Yes, sorry, I'm sorry Abed, we can rewind if you want-"

"But you love Cougar Town. _We_ love Cougar Town. Why wouldn't you pay attention?". He seems genuinely confused and even slightly hurt, and all she wants to do is give him a hug.

"I'm sorry, I really am, I was just thinking about something else."

He pauses for a minute and just stares at her face. Finally he smiles and just says, "OK", pressing "play" on the DVD remote.

She goes back to watching the show- for about 2 minutes. Then she starts thinking about Abed again. And she just can't stop thinking about him.

Finally she snaps.

"Hey, Abed?", she squeaks, before mentally punching herself.

"Yes, Annie?"

"Why- do you think that, uh- um..."

Her throat feels really dry all of a sudden. Abed looks appropriately perplexed.

Annie takes a breath. "Why do you like watching me watch _Cougar Town?"_

It's the not the question she was going to ask, but it's a more sane one.

He thinks about it, and then responds at a rate so fast she needs to concentrate to catch all of it. "Well, when I said you were my third favorite show, I really did mean that watching you is kind of like watching a TV show. Watching you watch Cougar Town does have many of the qualities that draws me to real TV. Emotionally investment without having to socially participate, silent judgement, visual attractiveness, likable characters. It's... Fun. I guess."

Annie smiles, her heart thumping. He can be so sweet sometimes without even meaning to be.

"You think I'm visually attractive and likable?", she asks, realizing she sounds like a 14 year old.

"Uh. Well... yes. Yes, I do. That's not weird though, I think most people think those things about you."

She can't stop smiling. _Stop being an idiot, _she thinks. _Say something. _

"Well, same- same for you," she mumbles.

_YOU DID NOT JUST SAY THAT_. She curses herself. She is so stupid.

A silence falls, and they're just looking at each other. Neither of them really knows what to say, because... what do you say in this situation?

Annie starts to feel her body heating up. Staring into his eyes without any distraction or conversation is probably not a good idea if she wants to get her thoughts straight. She can't help but breathe a little heavier, and her heart is racing now.

The tension between them is palpable, and she can feel it rising ever higher.

_Say something, _she thinks desperately. _Or just grab me or... something._

After what feels like a minute of torture, Abed finally breaks the silence.

"Is this a social cue?"

"Yep", she murmurs.

And he gets out of his chair, grabs her face and kisses her. Hard.

And Cougar Town's still playing in the background, but Abed doesn't really care because Annie just became his second-favorite show.

Second, because not even she can really beat Inspector Spacetime.

At least not yet.


End file.
